It just took some people a little longer than others to realize how few words they needed to get by, how much of life they could negotiate in silence.
Tom PerrottaIt's not the cheating. It's the hunger for an alternative. The refusal to accept unhappiness.
Tom PerrottaI don't really distinguish between sympathy and honesty when I'm writing. The two go together - I'm interested in inhabiting my characters, seeing the world through their eyes.
Tom PerrottaThey both seemed to understand that describing it was beyond their powers, the gratitude that spreads through your body when a burden gets lifted, and the sense of homecoming that follows, when you suddenly remember what it feels like to be yourself.
Tom PerrottaHe'd never had to make the adjustments and compromises other people accepted early in their romantic careers; never had a chance to learn the lesson that Sarah taught him everyday--that beauty was only a part of it, and not even the most important part, that there were transactions between people that occurred on some mysterious level beneath the skin, or maybe even beyond the body.
Tom Perrotta